1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel way of and means for treating abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome in human patients.
2. Brief Description of the State of Knowledge in the Art
In general, there are three kinds of fat in the human body: subcutaneous fat, intramuscular fat, and visceral fat.
Subcutaneous fat is found underneath the skin, and intramuscular fat is found interspersed in skeletal muscle. Fat in the lower body, e.g. in thighs and buttocks, is subcutaneous. Visceral fat, also known as organ fat or intra-abdominal fat, is located inside the peritoneal cavity, packed in between the internal organs and torso of the abdomen. There are several adipose tissue deposits of visceral fat in the human body, namely: mesenteric, epididymal white adipose tissue, and perirenal deposits. [Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ Kershaw E E, Flier J S. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 89 (6): 2548-56 (2004).] An excess of visceral fat is known as central obesity, “belly fat,” the “pot belly” or “beer belly,” where the abdomen protrudes excessively.
Over 250 years ago, Johannes Baptista Morgagni described android obesity as increased intra-abdominal and mediastinal fat accumulation. Back then, he recognized the association between visceral obesity, hypertension, hyperuricemia, atherosclerosis, and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. [Historical perspective: visceral obesity and its relation to morbidity in Johannes Baptista Morgagni's ‘De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagata’ Enzi G, Busetto L, Inelmen E M, Coin A, Sergi G Int. J. Obes Relat Metab Disord 27: 534-535 (2003)]
Today, Morgagni's android obesity condition is now described as metabolic syndrome, and is associated with insulin resistance and increased risk of Coronary Heart Disease. The Metabolic syndrome is a condition defined by any three of five risk factors, one of which is waist circumference (female waist>88 cm (>35″), male waist>102 cm.(>40″). The others are triglycerides: (men<40 mg/d1; women<50 mg/dl), HDL cholesterol (>110 mg/dl), blood pressure (≧130/≧85 mm Hg), and FBS (>150 ml/dl). [Dyslipidemia of central obesity and insulin resistance. Brunzell, J D, Hokanson, J E Diabetes Care: 22(3); Mediastinal fat, insulin resistance and hypertension. Sharma A M Hypertension: 44:117 (2004)].
Over the past 40 years, the prevalence of obesity in the US increased from 13% to 32%. In 2003-2004, 66% of U.S. adults were overweight or obese.
Abdominal obesity as measured by waist circumference and waist hip ratio (WHR) is an independent predictor of mortality. Marginally increased waist circumference is strongly associated with prevalent hypertension in normal-weight and overweight adults. Also, there is a strong correlation between central (i.e. abdominal) obesity and cardiovascular disease. [Effect of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with myocardial infarction in 52 countries. Yusuf S, Hawken S, Ounpu S, Dans T, Avezum A, Lanas F, McQueen M, Budaj A, Pais P, Varigos J, Lisheng L, Lancet 364: 937-52 (2004).] Because of this, the WHR ratio has been used as a measure of obesity and is an indicator or measure of the health of a person, and the risk of developing serious health conditions. Research shows that people with “apple-shaped” bodies (with more weight around the waist) face more health risks than those with “pear-shaped” bodies who carry more weight around the hips. [Waist-hip ratio should replace Body Mass Index as an indicator of mortality risk in older people. Am. J. Clin. Nutrition (Aug. 12, 2006).]
A WHR of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men have been shown to correlate strongly with general health and fertility. Women within the 0.7 range have optimal levels of estrogen and are less susceptible to major diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and ovarian cancers. Men with WHR's around 0.9, similarly, have been shown to be more healthy and fertile with less prostate cancer and testicular cancer. Studies show that 80 percent of women over the age of 18 have a WHR of at least 0.9. This is a 40 percent increase since 2002, and it keeps increasing.
Although maintaining a healthy weight is a cornerstone in the prevention of chronic diseases and premature death, maintaining a healthy waist size should also be an important goal.
Markedly obese patients are typically directed towards diet and exercise programs, and failing that, presented with the option of bariatric surgery or living with and dying from the increased morbidity of obesity. After bariatric surgery, plastic surgeons perform skin excisions of the redundant folds of tissue remaining on patients who had lost 50-200 lbs. These post-bariatric surgery patients are frequently nutritional cripples with hypoalbuminemia, cirrhosis, and renal stones and suffer increased complications reflecting their impaired nutritional status.
Traditional plastic surgical approaches have been cosmetic, targeted only at removing (i) localized subcutaneous fat deposits in non-obese or modestly obese patients, and (ii) the redundant folds of abdominal wall or pannus that remain after massive weight loss from gastric banding or intestinal bypass procedures.
Before subcutaneous liposuction, combined hemostasis and analgesia is achieved in the patient by infusing tumescent solutions of lactated Ringer's solution, containing dilute amounts of xylocalne and epinephrine. Performing tumescent liposuction in this manner allows increased volumes of fat to be removed and obviates the need for general anaesthesia which, in turn, facilitates outpatient surgery in office-based facilities. [Tumescent Technique Klein, J. Mosby (2000).]
Studies have now shown large volume (subcutaneous) liposuction and abdominoplasty as feasible alternatives for improving body shape. [Large-volume liposuction and extensive abdominoplasty: a feasible alternative for improving body shape. Cardenas-Camarena L, Gonzalez L E Plast Reconstr Surg. 102: 1698-707 (1998).] Clinical studies have shown large volumes of fat can be safely removed in serial liposuction procedures performed at safe intervals. Pilot studies have also shown improvement in the cardiovascular risk profile with large volume subcutaneous liposuction. [Improvements in cardiovascular risk profile with large-volume liposuction: a pilot study. Giese S Y, Bulan E J, Commons G W, Spear S L, Yanovski J A. Plastic Reconstr Surg. 108 510-21 (2001).] However, it should be noted that such large volume subcutaneous liposuction approaches are still mainly cosmetic, as only the less metabolically active, subcutaneous fat is addressed and removed during such procedures.
Recently, animal research has discovered that only the removal of visceral fat in mice has been shown to stop insulin resistance. [Visceral fat removal stops insulin resistance. Barzilai N. Diabetes 51: 2951-2958 (2002).] Increased visceral fat shortens mammalian longevity and its removal lengthens it. [Visceral adipose tissue modulates mammalian longevity. Muzumdar R., Allison D B, Huffman, D M, Xiaohui M, Einstein, F H, Fishman S, Poduval A D, McVei T, Keith, A W, Barzilai, N. Aging Cell 7(3) 438-440 (2008).] [The effect of fat removal on glucose tolerance is depot specific in male and female mice. Haifei S, Strader A D, Woods, S C, Seeley, R J Am. J. Physiol Endocrinol Metab 293: E1012-1020 (2007).]
Also, in Brazil, clinical trials are being carried out with partial omentectomy to determine the effect on insulin sensitivity. However, such studies have used direct surgical excision, posing high risk of vascular injury, with concomitant bleeding and vascular compromise of the intestine. [Surgical removal of visceral fat tissue (omentectomy) associated to bariatric surgery: effect on insulin sensitivity. Clinical Trials NCT00545805 University of Campinas, Brazil.]
Thus, while there is great promise that the removal of visceral fat in the mesenteric region of human patients stands to ameliorate the metabolic syndrome and abdominal obesity, and reduce morbidity due to obesity, there is a great need in the art for a new and improved method of and apparatus for safely removing visceral fat in human patients, without employing direct surgical excision and posing high risk of vascular injury with concomitant bleeding and vascular compromise of the intestine, associated with conventional surgical procedures and apparatus.